


Poetic Licenses of the Heart

by cosmicmilktea



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Chill vampire Kyungsoo, Long-suffering editor Minseok, M/M, Novelist Baekhyun, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-19 04:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14229231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicmilktea/pseuds/cosmicmilktea
Summary: Kyungsoo is a vampire, and Baekhyun needs to write a book.





	1. Chapter 1

                                                                                                

 

Kyungsoo just wanted a drink.

It’s usually a quick process – In and out, almost like a drive through, of sorts. Kyungsoo would dress up, go to a club, pick someone drunk enough from the crowd, then herd them somewhere secluded and drink their blood, enough to sustain him for the next week or so – Two, if he’s just going to putter around in his apartment doing nothing.

It used to be harder back in the days, where people ran on superstitions instead of apathy and the night betrays the slightest noise instead of swallowing it whole with the sound of traffic and thumping bass. Nowadays, where people routinely pass out in the streets for the advancement of their careers, it’s fairly easy to pass minor blood loss for the side effects of partying too hard. And Kyungsoo always made sure that whoever he drank from for the night ends up tucked safely inside a cab, a bottle of aspirin and vitamin B each snug in their pockets.

After decades of nighttime prowls, Kyungsoo can safely say that he has a system, that he does his thing cleanly with no complications. He chose his targets carefully : Always alone, always slightly scanning the crowd for company so that when Kyungsoo comes along – wide-eyed and soft-lipped and looking entirely _safe_ , they come along readily.

His gaze for the night fell on a man half-slumped on one of the small round tables scattered around the dance floor, an admittedly impressive collection of empty shots before him and eyes lazily half-lidded. A smile, a shot of tequila that Kyungsoo only pretended to down, a brush of their hands, and the man is following him into the back alley of the club, drunk giggles echoing along the darkened space as Kyungsoo gently but firmly pressed him against the wall.

This close, Kyungsoo can finally see the man in earnest – features soft and sharp all at the same time and small lips an almost petulant curve that invites his own to smile. Kyungsoo felt satisfaction bloom inside him as their hands began to roam - the way someone would admire the impeccable plating of a sumptuous dish - before he nosed his way to the man’s jugular and sank his teeth in and oh.

_Oh._

The man’s blood is _divine_ \- Sweet and bright at the edges and Kyungsoo is reminded, inexplicably, of the sun. He tilted the other man’s chin, going deeper while some other part of him, which had kept him alive for close to two centuries, warned him to slow down. He almost, almost, lost himself in the taste, and probably would have were it not for the hands that suddenly grabbed his. He let out an undignified yelp, surprise and a million other things racing through his head as the man before him pushed him away and Kyungsoo’s vision is suddenly filled with a very clear, and very sober pair of eyes.

Really, Kyungsoo just wanted a drink.

He had not expected to have to bring his meal home.

 

***

 

Baekhyun needed to write a book.

“No more buts, it’s either this or you find another publisher. I mean it”

Minseok hyung’s words had brooked a certain kind of finalty, his editor’s usually amicable face set in grim, stern lines. Baekhyun knew this was coming, was quite surprised it took this long, sitting there in Minseok’s too-clean office with its too-squeaky leather chair.

And it’s not like Baekhyun doesn’t want to write, really. Not like he’s not aware that his last proper book is three years old and all he has to his name ever since is a string of half-hearted short stories and God help him, a book of short poems.

“And it has to be a novel. A _real_ novel, Baek”

As if reading his thoughts, Minseok hyung had continued. And the reminder of that poem collection alone was probably what sent him straight into the midst of too many shotglasses and music that was way, way too loud.

And then a very cute man – soft yet sharp at all the right places, eyes wider than anything – came to his table, and suddenly, maybe, things were looking up. It was definitely looking up as the man all but hauls him flush aganst the wall, alley all dark and the sounds of everything muted to a dull thumping against his back. Baekhyun’s lips curled into a grin, hands starting to venture into the other man’s slight build and then.

And then the man _bit_ him.

It wasn’t even the kinky, let-me-mark you as mine kind of biting, which Baekhyun won’t have been too opposed too, it was straight on _biting_ biting. He felt his skin break, felt curiously no pain at all and instead a lightheaded kind of rush that he was sure had nothing to do with the alcohol in his system. Baekhyun knows his alcohol, knows being so drunk that all he wants to do is smile until his face splits and everything just goes away, but this, this was something else. This was -  
Baekhyun’s mind sputters, restarts, neurons catching up with his predicament and holy shit.

The man is a vampire. The man is a vampire and holy shit holy shit the things he could -

“Wait” He rasped. The man – The _vampire_ \- didn’t seem to hear him as he continued to drink, small, cold hand tilting his chin up before Baekhyun caught them in his own. “Wait”

The vampire stopped, wrenching himself from Baekhyun’s neck, seemingly taken aback that he was speaking, or was still conscious at all. But the vampire doesn’t know that Byun Baekhyun has probably the alcohol tolerance of five desperate salarymen trying to climb the corporate ladder, doesn't know what sheer adrenaline and the need to keep one's literary presence afloat can do to a man.

He feels the vampire begin to extricate himself from their embrace and Baekhyun panicked. He was either going to flee or kill him and he can’t –

Without thinking, he swiped his thumb over the blood still dripping down the side of his neck, pressing them to the lips of the retreating man before him – both their eyes wide and his heart thumping so fast that Baekhyun thought he could hear the fucking thing. The vampire’s eyes fluttered shut as cold lips envelop Baekhyun’s digit and Baekhyun watched, frozen, burning, as the other man fucking _moaned_ , teeth grazing over the pad of his thumb. Didn’t move even when the vampire blinked his eyes open – wide with surprise and something else that Baekhyun thought might be hunger and really, really Baekhyun should probably be afraid.

But Baekhyun needed to write a book.

“Just…” He whispered, trying not to let his voice tremble, trying not to fucking faint “Hear me out first, okay?”

And so he went home with a vampire.

 

***


	2. Chapter 2

                                                                              

 

“I mean, think about it”

For a vampire, Do Kyungsoo’s apartment is shockingly normal and well stocked with the basics – Tea, coffee, biscuits, even a can of creamer that only expired a mere three months ago. Fleetingly, Baekhyun wonders who these too-human necessities are meant for, who frequents the modestly upscale apartment enough to warrant the treats nestled there amongst neat rows of bookshelves and papers.

“You won’t have to venture out to the club, or anywhere at all, to feed. I can come over once a week – or whatever your schedule is, and you can just drink from me. No hassle, no fuss.”

Baekhyun dumps the entirety of the expired creamer into his coffee and looks expectantly across the counter, where Kyungsoo sits with narrowed eyes at his proposal.

“And all this in exchange for you asking me some questions for a…novel?”

“Right on” Baekhyun beams, the coffee making him feel more or less human again – the corners of his lips lifting up by sheer muscle memory of countless book signings “Oh, how rude of me – Byun Baekhyun, writer – At your service“ he brandishes his hand with a flourish.

As expected, Kyungsoo doesn’t even look at his proffered hand, gaze instead intent on studying him as one would a particularly curious lab specimen. Baekhyun’s smile doesn’t waver, having been on the receiving end of one too many of Minseok Hyung’s patented death glare, and decides on a gamble.

“I mean, not to assume or anything – But I _do_ assume that my blood is of reasonable quality? You did seem to enjoy it ealier, or am I off mark?” Baekhyun can’t keep the excitement off his voice because honestly once that question is out, it triggers all sorts of other questions that he’s just dying to ask – Does blood taste differ from people to people, and choosing whom to drink from for the day is like choosing wine bottles without labels? or does everyone in the world just taste like one huge pot of salty, coppery blandness?

“Everyone tastes different” Kyungsoo begins, and the vampire must have caught on the questions fighting to leak out of Baekhyun’s ears, because he continues “It really depends on a lot of things – Diet, probably, lifestyle, sometimes. You can kind of feel the aftertaste of a big meal or whether someone is stressed or not by the scent of their blood. But sometimes it just down to genetics, I guess” Kyungsoo’s tone had taken on a flat yet strangely melodic cadence and Baekhyun is enraptured.

“You’re…” kyungsoo’s gaze falls on him again “You’re not bad” He sighs – seemingly out of some behavioral tic rather than necessity because Baekhyun noticed that he had not actually breathed the whole time they have sat down together.

Already, his fingers itches for somewhere to scribble on – What other kinds of gestural behaviors do vampires carry over when they are turned? If they apparently do not need to breathe, does that mean they consciously pretend to breathe whenever in close proximity with people?

“Fine. We can start this whole…arrangement next week, so stop _thinking_ – You’ll have plenty of time to ask questions later” Baekhyun’s head snaps up from his musings, eyes wide before Kyungsoo groans.

“And no, we can’t read minds. You’re just…” his hand waves, almost helplessly, at Baekhyun’s whole being “…Loud”

“Here, give me your number and I’ll call you on Monday“ Kyungsoo slides over a fairly new iphone over the counter, and Baekhyun had to physically restrain himself from asking just how old Kyungsoo actually is and whether he had needed to adapt to modern technology. Instead, he punches in his number under the name ‘Baekhyunnie ♥♥’ before sliding it back to Kyungsoo.

“Oh, one last question before I go?”

The vampire grunts noncommittally.

“Can I call you hyung?”

Kyungsoo glares at him, but says nothing and merely pushes an unopened packet of biscuits towards him. Baekhyun counts it as a victory.

 

*

 

Kyungsoo spends the rest of his week reading through the complete works of Byun Baekhyun.

The thing is, Kyungsoo prefers fresh blood. It’s something that more than one of his friends have always remarked as uncharacteristic of his pragmatic self - Especially with the prolific market of bagged blood over the last few decades. But the rush of the bite, the rich, warm gush and the surprise of tastes as it hits his tongue – It is one of the few small sensory pleasures left that reminds him of being human. The idea of having a regular to drink from is an appealing one, and the fact that the person has one of the sweetest blood he’s ever tasted in his two hundred years of existence just made it that much more enticing.

Kyungsoo knows he can get away with making the whole arrangement very minimal – A drink for one, two hours of questions each week, in the comfort of his own home. But.

But Kyungsoo also loves the written word. Amasses what scrolls, books, and journals he can get his hands on along the decades of his quiet life – Each passage like a frozen piece of the time it was written on. And so if Baekhyun wants to write a novel with _his_ history and _his_ knowledge, Kyungsoo has to make sure he isn’t giving over part of himself for some hack writer with no grasp of grammar or syntax.

The very thought made him shudder.

The Growl trilogy by Byun Baekhyun, despite its atrocious choice of title, had been a resounding commercial and critical success, or so his google searches informed him. The boxed set is still on the bestseller row in the supernatural drama section of the bookstore, cover surprisingly minimalistic and tasteful, the blurb reading something about the struggles of a young man turned werewolf trying to find a pack of his own.

One book in, and Kyungsoo has to grudgingly admit that Byun Baekhyun is a good writer, even if there are glaring discrepancies in his description of werewolf society that borders on absolute hilarity. But what he lacks in concrete information he seem to make up in pure, unadulterated _feelings_.

Over the years, Kyungsoo has built up his own collection of supernatural fiction - paperbacks stowed neatly on one corner of his closet - has made it something of an occasional guilty pleasure, actually. But the books has always been about bizarre love triangles and glamorized mystery : Doe-eyed protagonists torn between two loves and two worlds, endless soul searching and pretty people with existential angst ripping of each other’s and their own clothing at the drop of a hat. Kyungsoo enjoys the occasional laugh that the stories give him, but sometimes, he longs for more, or maybe less. More realism, less style and passion. More loneliness.

Baekhyun, however, seem to understand the loneliness – the boredom, the vague yet tangible disconnect that he feels as he watches the rest of the world go by, all none the wiser of the things he knows.

Kyungsoo idly remembers the forlorn look on Baekhyun’s face the first time he saw him, and wonders at the disconnect between that Baekhyun and the one who smiles and bats his eyelashes at him to offer his blood. The thought lingers, stays with him as he went under with the rising of the sun.

The first thing he does upon waking up on Monday night is to send a text.

_Come over tomorrow. 7 pm._

 

*

 

After Kyungsoo, the writing comes easily.

Baekhyun spends his days sleeping in and his nights alternately writing, asking questions, and fooling around in Kyungsoo’s place. For all the vampire’s quiet glares and annoyed grunts, Baekhyun was pretty surprised at how…accepting he is to Baekhyun’s sudden invasion of his private space.

Despite how he presents himself to the world, Baekhyun knows that he is not an easy person to put up with - Minseok’s patience should probably warrant himself a canonization of some sort for dealing with Baekhyun for so long. It is why he flits loosely through different people and different scenes, giving everyone just enough time to be dazzled and charmed by his easy smiles and easier flirting – yet never enough to actually _know_ , to actually be able to quantify what makes up one Byun Baekhyun.

But then there’s Kyungsoo, who opens the doors of his apartment for him, who answers even the most inane of his questions, lets him read his books, and sits beside him once a week to tilt his head gently with cold hands and drink his blood.

Upon Kyungsoo’s insistence, Baekhyun is on a strict diet of vitamins and iron-rich foods, Kyungsoo’s fridge stocked with all sorts of meat and leafy greens that the vampire doesn’t hesitate to whip up into dinners that supposedly should keep Baekhyun healthy and his blood sugar and iron levels an acceptable level.

The first time he watches Kyungsoo cooks, Baekhyun is rooted to the spot - part awed and part something warm and squirmy that he doesn’t feel comfortable categorizing as Kyungsoo flips and sautees and moves gracefully in his small kitchenette.

He learns that Kyungsoo is around two hundred years old, turned at the tail end of the waning Joseon dynasty. He learns that Kyungsoo was a scholar and continues to be one - writing for historical publications and consulting for museums via connections that he’s established for decades. That Kyungsoo likes the act of cooking, and that the human food strewn around the apartment is courtesy of Jongin – Kyungsoo’s werewolf friend who comes over for biweekly Mario Kart games. Incidentally, he also learns that yes, werewolves also exists, and that no, there is no such thing as a millenia-old blood feud between vampires and werewolves, thank you very much.

Baekhyun writes feverishly, cultivating a forest of scribbled notes and post-its of facts and imagined conversations and interconnecting plots as Kyungsoo’s life and knowledge fills him up. He latches on to Kyungsoo’s voice, writing down as much as he could as vivid images dances behind his eyes, and Baekhyun knows that he’s afraid. Afraid that as with everything else, that what he has right now, the words flowing so freely from his pen, is fleeting and temporary after three years of nothing.

But the days pass and he learns so much more. He learns that there is a whole other world hidden amongst Seoul’s busy nightlife – powerful Dokkaebis and restless Gwishins and conniving Gumihos and other werefolks. He learns that most vampires nowadays prefer the practicality of pre-packaged blood, that the higher ups of most hospitals in the country has had some dealings with Kyungsoo’s kind. He learns that Kyungsoo sleeps in a lightproofed room in the middle of his apartment, and won’t wake up even when Baekhyun accidentally set his fire alarm off while trying to boil water for tea.

He learns that living for so long is not without its pitfalls, and maybe, maybe learns to understand why Kyungsoo lets him be around so much.

Three weeks passes and Baekhyun learns that his pen is still moving as easily as it did as when he started and Baekhyun relaxes, amongst the soft jazz tunes and the smell of pasta permeating Kyungsoo’s apartment.

By the end of the month, he has drafted his outline and a complete first chapter, which he slides smugly across Minseok’s reflective surface of a table.

“This is…not terrible” His editor breathes, arches one perfect eyebrow after a quick skim, and Baekhyun smiles smugly and preens because he knows. It’s Kyungsoo’s story, after all, it is bound to be good.

 

*

 

Kyungsoo tries not to gorge, he really does.

But it’s hard to resist when Baekhyun’s practically moved into his apartment – The furious scratchings of his multi-colored pen the first thing he hears upon waking and his cheerful good nights ushering him into his bedroom. Always within his sight, always within reach.

Baekhyun has carved a corner for himself in Kyungsoo’s living room – Surprisingly neat and orderly given how Baekhyun strikes him the first time they met all those weeks ago. But Kyungsoo’s lived decades upon decades to be able to acknowledge that first impressions are not always what it seems, and Byun Baekhyun is an interesting study of the expected and the unexpected.

He is loud, for sure. Prattles on about anything and everything and latching unto him with endless questions and a curiosity that is admittedly amazing if not irritating. But he is also quiet, in the intense way he sits down and writes or the companiable way he sists beside Kyungsoo when he reads.

And they do sit down together a lot – Reading, running through Baekhyun’s netflix queue, listening to one of Kyungsoo’s recordings, and sometimes. Sometimes, when a comfortable silence has blanketed them in a warm cocoon, or when Baekhyun gets excited about a question and gets too close, sometimes Kyungsoo would catch the unmistakable scent that is Bakehyun and just stares.

And Baekhyun always notices. Always knows. And sometimes, even when he’s just drank a few days ago, even when Baekhyun’s eyes is half-lidded with too many waking nights, he would ask.

“Care for a drink?”

The question is always phrased in the most neutral of ways. Given how Baekhyun talks in general, he could have easily delivered it with a flirty wink, a ribbing smirk, even a leer. But Baekhyun only smiles – easy and light as he tips his head to the side, baring the smooth column of his throat and Kyungsoo would always sidestep, always push.

“It’s all right, I just drank a few days ago, remember?“

“I don’t mind” Baekhyun’s smile grows and Kyungsoo feels displaced.

“Are you still taking your vitamins?”

“Yes, hyung” Baekhyun grins, insolent as always “Here, take yours” His grin dissolves into something else, something indescribably soft and Kyungsoo just falls into him like always, steadying Baekhyun by his shoulders and tips his chin up and really, he tries not to gorge. But this, but _Baekhyun_.

Baekhyun tastes like the sun.

 

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, despite its atrocious title, 'Growl' was quite the bop *nods sagely*


End file.
